CHAPTER NINE:
ANOTHER METHOD
TO PREVENT DECEPTION OF THE UNDERSTANDING

CURIOSITY IS ANOTHER vice from which
the mind
must be free. If we indulge in vain, frivolous, or sinful dreams, our
minds
will become incapable of choosing the proper mortification of our
disorderly
affections.

All earthly things, except those
absolutely
necessary, must die through our complete disregard for them, even
though
they are not wrong in themselves. We must control our minds and not
permit
them to wander aimlessly about. Our minds must become insensible to
mundane
projects, to gossip, to the feverish search for news. Our indifference
to the affairs of this world must give them a dream-like quality.

The same holds true for Heavenly
things. We
must be discreet and humble. Our greatest ambition must be to see the
crucified
Christ always before us, His life and death, what efforts He demands of
us.

Seek nothing beyond this. It will
please the
Divine Master. His real friends ask only for those things that will
enable
them to fulfill His commissions. Any other desire, any other quest, is
but self-love, spiritual pride, an encirclement by the devil.

Such a disciplined conduct is well
fortified
against the assaults of the devil. When this skilled opponent sees the
fervor of persons beginning spiritual exercises and the fixed
resolution
of their wills, he insinuates his subtleties into their understanding.
A breakthrough here permits him to push his way to the will. He is then
the master of both these faculties.

As a feint, he inflates their
imagination
in moments of prayer, suggesting elevated sentiments. He works
particularly
on those who are curious and discerning by nature, who are subject to
self-conceit
and are fond of their own schemes. His aim, of course, is to amuse them
with idle dreams and the sensible pleasure they afford so that, drugged
with a false sense of appreciation of God, they may forget to cleanse
their
hearts, to examine themselves, and to practice mortification. In this
way
they become inflated with pride, and they idolize their own
understanding.

Having become accustomed to consult
no one
but themselves, they finally are persuaded that they no longer need the
advice or assistance of others.

It is a deadly, an almost incurable
disease.
It is much more difficult to remedy pride of the understanding than
that
of the heart. As soon as pride of the heart is discovered by the
intelligence,
it can be removed by a voluntary submission to proper authorities. But
if a persons imagines, and persists in maintaining, that he is wiser
than
his superiors, how will his deception be shattered?

How will he discover his error? To
whose judgment
will he submit so long as he considers himself wiser than the rest of
the
world?

If the understanding, the
searchlight of the
soul, which alone can discover and rectify the vanity of the heart, is
itself blinded and swollen with pride, who is able to cure it?

If the light changes to darkness, if
the leader
is treacherous, what will happen to the rest?

Be on guard, therefore, against such
a fatal
attack. Never let it overwhelm your minds.

We must train ourselves to conform
to the
judgment of others. Without carrying our notions of spirituality too
high,
let us become enamored with the folly and simplicity recommended so
highly
by the Apostle; then shall we surpass Solomon himself in wisdom.